Ski Trip!
Went skiing today at Pila, which is in the Aosta Valley. The Aosta Valley was formed by a glacier moving through the Alps, and the valley entrance is pretty much directly north of Ivrea. Aosta is also the first major town south of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, explaining why it’s such a large (relatively speaking) town.
Getting to Pila from Ivrea is really easy. You grab an early train from the Ivrea train station (07:45 or so) and get into Aosta about an hour later. You then walk under the tracks and over to the gondola that takes you to the top of the mountain. In total, about five to ten minutes of transfer time. And the rental shop is right next to the ticketing window, so it’s super convenient.
The snow was decent. It was kinda snowing while I was skiing, but it had no impact on the piste conditions. I think it’s been a slow year in the Alps as far as snowfall is concerned.
It’s been a while since I skiied in the US, but the European piste rankings seem a little easier than what I’m used to in the US. I think it might have something to do with the type of terrain ski resorts tend to be situated on in the US. The ones on the east coast tend to be steep and icy, while the ones out west are still steep but have better snow. Pila was pretty gentle most of the time. There were a couple of steep sections, but they were manageable.
I didn’t have any problems today keeping up with the trails, although I did manage to fall off the chairlift as it arrived at the top of one of the peaks. I misjudged the timing of when to push off, and before I knew it the chair was starting to swing around to go back down and the ground was rapidly moving away from me. My knee and hip are a little sore, but I fell only a couple of feet so I think I should be OK. I’m a little more worried about the rest of me: I’m not feeling particularly tired or sore right now, which I’m sure will mean I’ll be stiff as a board tomorrow morning when I wake up.
One of the nice things about Pila, which I assume is the norm for skiing in the Alps, was the abundance of small cafes and restaurants along the trails. We stopped in one for lunch, and I had some nice torellini and a caffe. I heard Italian, French, English, and German being spoken. And I saw a little person skiing.
I should probably mention that we have mid-term break today, which was great because it meant the slopes were at times practically empty. I took a couple of photos, but my camera wasn’t sounding too happy with the temperature, so I gave it a break. I’ve posted the few photos I took today in the gallery:
